The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, yesterday decried that the heavy security arrangement at the Kuje custodial centre in Abuja was breached by the terrorists who attacked the facility on July 5.
He disclosed this to the House of Representatives joint committee on National Security and Intelligence investigating the invasion.
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We must destroy this country, terrorist who fled Kuje Prison boasts
The minister, who read the report submitted to the committee, said 65 armed security personnel were on guard on the day of the invasion.
He said they comprised 31 personnel of the Nigerian Army, five personnel of MOPOL 21, five personnel of MOPOL 50, two personnel of Counter Terrorism Unit of Nigeria Police, two personnel of Kuje Police Division; seven personnel of Nigerian Immigration Service; three personnel of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and 10 personnel of Correctional Armed Squad
Aregbesola said: “These 65 people are there for specific responsibility of resisting and preventing any attack and were all armed. Because of the presence of press men here, I’ll not tell you the grades of arsenals in their possession. But they’re well-armed.
“If we have a more exclusive arrangement, I’ll give you specifics on the grade of equipment, military arsenals that were positioned for the defence of the facility.
“However, in spite of everything, our arrangement for the protection of Kuje failed and the facility was breached”.
The chairman of the committee, Sha’aban Sharada, ordered that letters be sent to the service chiefs to appear before it on Thursday.
“This situation is therefore very disturbing, embarrassing and also raises serious concerns about the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire national security architecture, especially given the location of their headquarters in the FCT,” he said.
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